European investment platform Lightyear has secured a $23 million Series B investment round, alongside unveiling a new suite of AI market intelligence tools.
With this Series B, Lightyear also announces hitting $1 billion in customer assets, a milestone reached as a result of recent explosive growth across the UK and Europe. Notable moments in recent months include releasing business accounts in 18 countries, exceeding 6,000 instruments, launching fractional European shares and local tax wrapper products.
Martin Sokk, co-founder and CEO at Lightyear, adds:
This Series B round is a huge vote of confidence in the untapped potential of investing in Europe and Lightyear’s ability to make a difference. Driving meaningful progress in this market means removing barriers to entry and demystifying investing for ordinary people. That’s why we feel so strongly about our vision for AI and the future of investing.
Europe is still a society of savers with completely independent tax systems, different regulations and complicated infrastructure – it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution. We’re making huge leaps forward in our mission to enable 750 million Europeans to build meaningful wealth, so it’s an incredibly exciting time for the business right now.
Lightyear is introducing three AI-powered market intelligence tools, marking the first step in its broader AI strategy. Access to clear, high-quality insights on stocks, funds, and market sentiment is often restricted by paywalls and subscriptions. These new features aim to change that, unlocking expert analysis and financial news, all summarised within the context of each user’s portfolio. Looking ahead, Lightyear plans to expand its AI capabilities to deliver comprehensive wealth management tools for retail investors.
The new ‘Why Did It Move’ feature lets users tap on a specific point in an instrument’s chart to view a concise summary explaining the cause of a spike or dip. The interactive ‘Bulls Say, Bears Say’ tool scans and analyses hundreds of reliable sources to present balanced arguments for and against a particular investment. Lastly, ‘Lightning Updates’ delivers quick, digestible insights on your holdings, watchlist, macro trends, and overall market sentiment.
The round is led by Nordic Ninja, the largest Japanese-backed VC in Europe, with investment from Superangel and SpecialistVC. Lightyear’s existing investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Metaplanet and Skaala have also committed fresh capital.
Continuing the tradition from early funding rounds, Lightyear continues to welcome notable angel investors from some of Europe’s most successful technology companies, such as Wise’s Taavet Hinrikus, Checkout.com’s Ott Kaukver and Skype’s Jaan Tallinn. New in this Series B round, Lightyear welcomes Bolt’s founder and CEO, Markus Villig.
Rainer Sternfeld, Partner at Nordic Ninja, says:
We’re excited to lead Lightyear’s Series B as they continue to make waves across Europe. Our goal as investors is to find companies solving real problems with next-level solutions.
We believe that AI will play a powerful role in every aspect of our future, and the investing sector is not immune to that. Martin & Mihkel have an unparalleled vision for how it will shape the future of retail investing in Europe, and we couldn’t wait to join in on that.
Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed, comments:
We're thrilled to continue to support Martin, Mihkel and the team at Lightyear. When we invested back in 2022, they were only available in the UK, and are in a rare group of companies that have expanded to service all of Europe, localising their product for 25 countries.
Retail participation is still far behind the US and Lightyear are laying the foundations - with a delightful product and full stack infrastructure - to empower investors across the continent.
The Series B funding will support Lightyear’s continued expansion across all European countries, beginning with the latest additions of Denmark, Sweden, and Bulgaria.
With its growth into the Nordics and Central Europe, Lightyear strengthens its position as Europe’s fastest-growing investment platform, now active in 25 markets and available in 10 languages.
Lead Image: Lightyear co-founders Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer
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